Jacob Grandgenett goes in for two points against the Windom Area Eagles on Dec. 19, in Blue Earth.

It was a record-setting night for the Blue Earth Area boys basketball team when they defeated the Windom Area Eagles 87-66 in Blue Earth, on Tuesday, Dec. 19.

The Bucs sank 20 3-pointers to establish what BEA coach Colby Swanson was confident is a new school record for number of 3-pointers made in one game by the Bucs.

Former BEA coach Gary Holmseth, who was at the game, was also sure it is a school record.

“None of the teams I coached made that many,” Holmseth reported.

Although obviously happy with how his team shot the ball, Swanson was anxious to talk about his team’s defense after the game.

“We played well on the defensive end of the court and that triggered our offense,” Swanson said. “I thought we rebounded well and played together as a team.”

Indeed, the Bucs took four charging fouls and had eight steals on defense while outrebounding the Eagles by a 45-34 margin.

BEA started the game firing on all cylinders. Jacob Grandgenett’s 3-pointer got things started. Branson Hauskins scored on a put-back basket before nailing a shot from outside of the arc for three more points. Gage Barker added a layup and the Bucs quickly had a 10-0 lead.

After extending their advantage to 15-2 over the Eagles, the momentum shifted and the Bucs’ lead shrank to two points at 17-15.

Windom Area eventually took the lead at 23-22 with 8:16 to play in the opening half.

The Eagles extended their lead to 27-22 before the Bucs went on a 20-0 run to take a 42-27 lead.

The run began with just under six minutes remaining in the first half.

Taylor Davids got things going when he swished two consecutive baseline 3-pointers.

Four more baskets from outside of the arc, three by Will Bromeland and one by Barker plus a baseline jumper by Bromeland, completed the run and put BEA up by 15 points.

Windom Area broke their scoring drought with a 3-pointer of their own to cut BEA’s lead to 42-30, but two more 3-pointers, one by Noah Dahl and another by Barker, helped the Bucs close out the half on a 6-1 run and make the score 48-31 in favor of the Maroon and Gold heading into the second half.

Windom Area would cut the BEA lead to under 10 points with 10 minutes left to play in the game but that would be as close as the Eagles would get and the Bucs pulled away for the 21-point win.

Bromeland led all scorers with 31 points. He made seven 3-pointers in 14 attempts. Barker connected on five shots from outside of the arc on his way to a 19-point performance. Davids added nine points, all on 3-pointers.

Grandgenett led the team with seven assists followed by Max Loge and Hauskins who each had five.

The Bucs traveled to St. James on Thursday, Dec. 21. The will have one week off before hosting the BEA Holiday Tournament on Dec. 28 and 29.

BEA 67, Fairmont 42

The Blue Earth Area Buccaneer boys got off to a slow start in their basketball game against the host Fairmont Cardinals on Friday night, Dec. 15. However, the Bucs eventually caught fire sending the Cardinals’ hopes for a victory down in flames with a 67-42 victory over their Big South Conference rival.

BEA did not score their first points until three minutes and 22 seconds had elapsed off the scoreboard clock. Fortunately, for the Bucs, the Cards were having troubles of their own putting the ball through the hoop.

Max Loge grabbed his own rebound of a missed shot and put it through the hoop to tally BEA’s first two points and cut Fairmont’s lead to two points at 4-2.

The Bucs were leading 8-5 when a 3-pointer by the Cards’ Harmon Schrunk and two free throws by Logan Junkermeier gave Fairmont their last lead of the game at 10-8.

The Cards’ advantage did not last long.

A three-pointer by BEA’s Sully Dahlberg ignited a 17-1 Buccaneer run and put the Maroon and Gold on top for good.

Loge knifed his way through Fairmont’s defense for two short baskets before the senior guard found Gage Barker for an easy 2-pointer on an inbounds play and a 17-10 BEA lead.

The Cards sank a free throw and then Barker chased down his own rebound from a missed 3-point attempt and drove to the basket for two more points and put BEA on top 19-11.

A midcourt steal by Will Bromeland resulted in the first of six consecutive points by the sophomore forward and put the Bucs ahead 25-11 with 4:29 remaining in the first half.

Later, with the clock winding down to signal the end of the first 18 minutes of play, BEA’s Jacob Grandgenett hit a buzzer-beater from the baseline to send the teams into the halftime break with the Bucs on top 34-17.

BEA outscored Fairmont 33-25 in the second half to make the final score 67-42.

BEA made 20 of their 30 2-point attempts (67 percent) and seven of their 22 3-point attempts (32 percent). The Bucs were a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.

Fairmont was 14-for-34 from 2-point range (41 percent) and 2-for-20 from 3-point range (10 percent). The Cards attempted 16 free throws and made eight.

The battle of the boards was won by Fairmont who had a 34-30 edge in rebounding.

BEA committed 14 turnovers to 20 for Fairmont.

Bromeland led BEA in scoring with 23 points followed by Barker with 16 and Loge with 10.

Bromeland and Loge each had six rebounds to lead the Bucs and Bromeland also pocketed three steals during the game.

With the win, the Bucs improved their overall record to 3-1 while the Cardinals dropped to 1-2.